Next generation wireless communication system architecture must be able to provide an array of services comparable to wire-line services. One such service envisioned for the next generation Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) architecture is multicasting. By definition, multicasting is a method which provides the delivery of information to multiple destinations without transmitting the same information content to each destination separately.
Typically, as more and more users are added to a multicast session, data rates tend to decrease. This is because retransmission of poorly received frames generally takes place over the same channel utilized for downlink data transmission. In other words, as more and more users request retransmission of poorly-received frames, valuable bandwidth is taken up during the retransmission of such frames, reducing the overall transmission rate of the downlink data channel. Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for retransmission of data within a communication system that does not reduce downlink data rates.